Review: Don’t Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

We wren’t always like this. We used to be average NYC high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe some headaches. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn’t expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we’ve kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We already know what’s coming.

Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same. So stop obsessing about your ex. We’re always listening.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I’m always up for psychic powers. So a contemporary plot with telepathic abilities? Sign me up!

I thought there were maybe three or four girls who got telepathy. I didn’t expect the whole homeroom. There’s a smaller group of major ones (nerdy Olivia, popular Mackenzie, and quiet Tess are the main players), but it was a surprisingly large group of telepathic characters.

And it was such an interesting take on the ensemble cast – the narrator was a collective consciousness. Don’t Even Think About It is the story of how a group of I‘s became a we.

This whole plot was amazing. Most of it is contemporary – crushes, boyfriends, friends and school – but then there’s the telepathy. Despite the paranormal-style powers, the best I can describe this is “contemporary with mind-readers.” It was a delightfully messy, multi-character high school story, with an extra dimension of ESP.

There was no indication of it on the cover, but there’s a sequel. And I want to read it. I want to hang out more with these characters and their high school ESP.